Amidst allegations central to the Matt Gaetz scandal, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Peter Wehner of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. They discuss the decades-old pattern of prominent Christian political leaders and commentators, who forgive allies for the same transgressions for which they harshly judge their opponents
Last week, the news broke that the Florida congressman Matt Gaetz was being investigated by the justice department “regarding sexual conduct with women”. He denies any criminal wrongdoing. Jonathan started looking back to times when other prominent Republicans were caught up in scandals that might otherwise be seen as immoral by white evangelicals, but were time after time forgiven.
So why do some in the Christian right seem to abandon their principles depending on the colour of the rosette a person might wear? And what are the long-term consequences of such hypocrisy?
